Godzilla Minus One is the latest Godzilla movie from Toho Studios in Japan, released in Japan on the 70th anniversary of the first Godzilla movie. This is Toho’s first live action Godzilla movie since Shin Godzilla in 2016, as the last couple live-action Godzilla movies have been done by Legendary Studios in America. It is a standalone film so you don’t need to watch any other films heading into this one. This film, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, is set in post-war Japan as they deal with the aftermath of the bombs and Godzilla. 

The film follows Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a Kamikaze Pilot for the Imperial Army Air Force. After he fakes a mechanical failure with his plane to avoid dying as a Kamikaze, he lands at an air base where Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) the lead mechanic inspects his plane. 

That night the base is attacked by a large dinosaur-like monster the locals of the island call Godzilla. The base only has mechanics and Shikishima on it, so Tachibana asks him to shoot the monster with his plane’s gun as it is the strongest. However he panics and freezes up becoming unable to fire, resulting in the deaths of all of the mechanics save Tachibana. When he awakes Tachibana blames him for the deaths of his friends and the two eventually get taken back to the mainland as the war has ended. 

Shikishima returns home to find his town in ruins from the bombing, his home burned. He asks his neighbor Sumiko Ota (Sakura Ando) where his parents are, but she tells him they’ve been killed along with her children in the bombing. Sumiko is also surprised to see him alive as she knew he was a Kamikaze Pilot, so she criticizes him for failing his duty.

Burdened with loss and trauma, Shikishima is unsure what to do now, when all of a sudden a woman gives a baby to him to keep it safe as she’s being chased for being a thief. Shimishima waits for the woman to return and eventually she does. Shikishima learns her name is Noriko Oishi (Minami Hamabe) and that the baby isn’t hers, but the child of a dying mother who asked Noriko to look after her; the baby’s name is Akiko. 

Noriko and Akiko end up staying with Shikishima in the ruins of his home for the night, and in the morning Sumiko informs them that the baby needs to eat nutritional food or milk soon or else it’ll die. Sumiko helps Noriko look after Akiko as Shikishima looks for work to earn some money for his sudden family. He eventually finds a job removing sea mines leftover from the war that both the Imperial Army of Japan and The U.S. Military anchored in the waters of Japan. It’s a dangerous job but pays a lot, and though Noriko worries for his safety saying that he already risked his life enough in the war, Shikishima assures her he’ll be safe and expresses that they really need the money. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. is performing nuclear tests and accidentally exposes Godzilla to their radiation, increasing its size and giving it its iconic Atomic Breath. Godzilla begins destroying warships as it makes its way to Japan. Shikishima, now working with his mine disposal crew of Captain Yoji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), a former naval officer, Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a former navy weapons developer and Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada), a rookie who was too young to join thr war. They sweep for mines together on a wooden boat as to avoid the magnetic detectors of the American mines, and the boat has a machine gun on it to blow the mines up from a distance. 

A few months pass and Shikishima doing his work earning some good pay, enough to fix his house up, when Noriko informs him that she’s found a job doing office work in Ginza, a city that is recovering well from the bombing. On his shift that day, the crew notices a destroyed warship and the boats are set upon by Godzilla, who easily destroys their partner boat causing Shikishima’s boat to flee.

Shikishima learns they were sent out there to delay Godzilla’s advance, a fact the Japanese government is hiding from their citizens. Shikishima and his crew try to stop Godzilla with some of the sea mines, but Shikishima is horrified to see that Godzilla has gotten larger and more powerful, so much so it can regenerate from a bomb blowing some of its face off. The crew narrowly escape when a warship intercepts Godzilla, allowing them the opportunity.

Now back on the mainland, the oncoming threat of Godzilla is near but the Japanese government refuses to act and the military can’t either, as any military action will disturb the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and the Soviets. Death and destruction are arriving soon to threaten the citizens of Japan, causing them to band together to face Godzilla themselves. 

Godzilla Minus One is an incredible movie, with amazing acting and compelling story, great direction and cinematography with a score that incorporates the iconic Godzilla theme. The human story feels grounded, focused and emotional, as Shikishima’s struggles with his experience in the war and with Godzilla cause him much anguish. Godzilla himself is quite monstrous in this film; fans of the Millennium era of Godzilla films will find his portrayal most similar to the Godzillas found in those movies: cold, mean, unforgiving and horrifying. His Atomic Breath especially is reimagined in this movie to invoke more terror. 

This film is a fantastic addition to the Godzilla franchise, narratively fitting alongside movies like the original Godzilla in 1954 and Shin Godzilla, with its critical nature of war, the Japanese government and nuclear weapons. Godzilla Minus One is in theaters now.